Contributions
803 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI think I have answered that question, but I am happy to lay it out again, if that is helpful. There is a long-standing principle of individual taxation, which I think is…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentThat is an absolutely crucial point and has been central to the work that we have done to decide on the policy. We want a system of automatic payment, so that pensioners do not…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI thank the hon. Lady for her question, but the equalities analysis was done. Unusually, the poverty impact analysis was also published over the last year. I do not agree with the…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI could not agree more with my hon. Friend. We need to make sure that we are seeing child poverty fall and seeing extra help for families through free school meals, as well as…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentThe right hon. Member is right to highlight that we need to provide support for older people, and for all households, with their energy bills right through the year, which is what…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentThat is such an important point! One of the biggest mistakes that we made in previous decades was saying, “We will not see the benefits of work to improve the quality of the…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. We want to make sure that the vast majority of pensioners can receive winter fuel payments. We want to make that as easy as…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI thank the hon. Member, my near neighbour, for that question. No bureaucracy is perfect, but in such cases we do not need an appeals mechanism; we just need to ensure that those…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI should have got out of the way, because my hon. Friend has given a direct rebuttal to what was said by the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez). He is entirely…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentIt is the hon. Member who is talking bilge. Growth was the highest in the G7 in the first quarter of this year, interest rates have fallen four times, and wages have risen faster…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentThat is a very important point. Whatever the views expressed in the House today, I say to all Members that if any of them want to suggest ways in which we can continue to drive up…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI have just explained why we are making this announcement now: we want to ensure that the payments can be made in time for the winter. I have not hidden from the fact that last…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentThe hon. Gentleman is trying to put words in my mouth and he will not succeed. We have been clear. What I said in my statement is that we have come to the House today, before the…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentIt is important to listen to Back Benchers and to Front Benchers. It is even important to listen to Opposition Members on occasion, particularly when they are digging their own…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentMy short, sharp answer is that wages have grown in the first 10 months of this Government faster than in the first 10 years of the last Conservative Government. Interest rates…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentI thank the hon. Member for his question. I have just referred to the progress that needs to be made on reducing child poverty, not just in England and Wales but in Scotland. We…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentMy hon. Friend is completely right. As I say, we have set the threshold at a level that means that the vast majority of pensioners—not just in her constituency, but right across…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentWhat this Government are doing is sorting out the mess in the public finances left by the Conservative party, and not repeating its irresponsibility. All Opposition parties oppose…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentAs my hon. Friend knows, we have said clearly that all levers to reduce child poverty are on the table. The child poverty strategy will be published in the autumn, but we are not…09 Jun 2025HANSARD Winter Fuel PaymentAs always, I thank my hon. Friend for his well-put thoughts. He is absolutely right that pensioner poverty fell significantly, halving under the last Labour Government, before…09 Jun 2025